Internet Archive Prevails Over DMCA

The Internet Archive a non-profit group that was founded in 1996 to build an Internet library can breathe a little easier. The Library of Congress has published six exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

One of the six exemptions is for the historical preservation of computer software or games. This only applies to technology that is currently obsolete. The ruling says, “computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.”
Yes that is a mouthful but remember that in five or ten years when you are watching VH1’s “I Love The Oh’s” and Halo 2 will seem like a quaint innocent video game.

Another exemption deals with audiovisual work that will allow educational institutions to bypass digital rights management rules for educational purposes. You can read all the exemptions and recommendations here.

On the Internet Archive thread it thanks the attorneys who worked on changing the DMCA. It states,”“Thanks to the hard work of two great law school students of Peter Jaszi of American University, Jieun Kim and Doug Agopsowicz, the Internet Archive and other libraries may continue to preserve software and video game titles without fear of going to jail.”

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Mike is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest ebusiness news.